Campus baseball team works toward Valley Championship

As the winter season winds down, athletes look forward to the spring sports season. Students across campus pick up their mitts and prepare for the start of the baseball season.

Last year the varsity baseball team finished with a record 12-9 in league and were eliminated from playoffs in the first round against Roosevelt High School.  

Nine-year head coach for the team Noah Heinz expects his team to compete once again for the Valley Championship. This year’s senior class has experienced both wins and losses over the years of playing for coach Heinz, and a Valley Championship title.

“Our main goal for every year is to win a Valley Championship and we were lucky enough to do it a few years ago,” Heinz said. “This has been an interesting senior group. When they were freshmen, I didn’t have any kids, and now I have two. Life for me has changed with this group as we enjoyed success with them. I hope the incoming freshmen can take some of the lessons the older guys have learned.”

In the following podcast, coach Heinz talks about his goals for the team this year.

Ronnie Peterson, ‘19, has played baseball for over half of his life. He continues to compete because of the impact the sport has left on his life.

“I’ve been playing baseball for around thirteen years now,” Peterson said. “I continue to play because I love the game and I can’t imagine my life without baseball. I play first base and my favorite part of baseball is the competitiveness of the sport. My goals for our team is to have a winning season and make it to the Valleys Championship. My personal goals are to be able to work hard and play baseball in college.”

This year the team received a new net for the batting cage. Sam Cross, ‘19, is excited for the net’s efficiency and how it will benefit the team as they practice for games. 

“The new batting cage net will help the baseball players during practice by better-containing balls hit during batting practice,” Cross said. “The old net had many holes that allowed balls to escape the cage. Doves would also fly through these holes and become trapped in the cage, and feral cats would come and eat them. The new cage is safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly.”

With the beginning of a new season, most teams welcome incoming freshmen. Derek DeGroot, ‘22, played outfield in elementary and junior high baseball and looks forward to contributing to the team.

“I have been playing baseball for around five years now,” DeGroot said. “I really enjoy baseball because the adrenaline that comes with it. When you hit the ball or field the ball you have this sense of exhilaration which is awesome. I am super excited for the first few games that we play because all the seniors are in basketball and I will actually be able to play.”

The following tweet shows the outcome from last season’s playoff game.

.#FCbaseball is defeated, 6-4, by Roosevelt in the first round of CIF Central Section Division 6 Playoffs, May 15. Congratulations Eagles for a great season! @fresnochristian @PAGMETER #TheFeather pic.twitter.com/KkztWmtvOT

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) May 16, 2018

The team started practicing in Jan. and they will play their first game at Sierra High School, Feb. 15. Go out and support your varsity Eagles!

For more articles, read Lindsay Weimer shares success story of cancer battle, part 2 and Lin Brown continues service in FC library.

John Monke can be reached via email and Twitter.